WAYCROSS, Ga. — Georgia police are warning residents about a phone scam, where the danger is not in getting the call but calling back.
Thw Waycross Police Department is reporting that scammers call people, only allowing the phone to ring once. When people see a missed call notification and return the call, they hear a message.
The message says, “You’ve reached the operator, please hold.”
Officials say the person is charged a large per-minute charge along with an international rate.
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The calls come from numbers with three-digit area codes that look like they are in the U.S., but are actually associated with international numbers.
Area codes used by scammers include 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849 and 876.
Police are asking cellphone users to ignore calls with these area codes that only ring once.
Officials say if you are tempted to call back, search the number online first to see if its listed as a scam number.
If you’re a victim of the scam, contact your cellphone carrier to resolve the charges. If the cellphone provider doesn’t come to a resolution, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Communications Commission.